Indian Students Association will host annual Holi celebration.
Indian students at Ohio University will welcome spring in a celebration of colors with Bollywood dance, music and authentic Indian food.
Holi, the Festival of Colors along with other festivities, is hosted annually by the Indian Students Association, and will take place this year in Baker Ballroom at 5 p.m. on Sunday for $7.
The festival centers around the triumph of good over evil. In India, bonfires are burned and colors are thrown, which signify evil being banished. Participants start anew with the coming of spring.
“People eat sweets in large quantities, share a meal together and the best part, the most fun part, is throwing colors on everybody,” Nikhil Dhinagar, a Ph.D. student studying electrical engineering, said.
To signify the start of spring, a separate color event will be held on March 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in which participants will throw colors at the Scripps Amphitheatre. Tickets to throw colors are $3.
Colors are used in multiple forms. Gulal powder can be thrown, and water balloons or water guns can be vehicles for colored water.
“(With) Holi, the first thing you think of is colors,” he said.
One goal of the events is to create interaction and build connections between domestic and Indian students, Dhinagar said. The gives the opportunity for this, while also giving locals an idea of the culture and traditions of India.
“It will be a cultural exchange,” Prashant Kumar Kuntala, the president of Indian Students Association, said.
Community members should come to experience a new culture, Kuntala, a graduate student studying computer science, said.
The event also serves as an opportunity for Indian students to connect with each other.
With about 100 Indian students at OU, the third largest international student population, Indian Students Association events connect those who are new to the United States with international students who are more experienced. Dhinagar said those more knowledgeable students tend to give pointers to the newcomers.
For example, new students who miss traditional Indian meals are told of New Market, an asian food shop on East State Street. With the right spices, Indian students can make authentic food to feel at home.
Dinner at the event will be catered by Columbus-based Amul India, giving those students an opportunity to experience the food they miss.
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Performances will feature song and dance from India’s Bollywood movie industry. Dhinagar himself will perform a song from the Bollywood film Rock On!! with a friend. As a guitar player and fan of rock, he said the song is a good fit.
The event’s open dance floor will give participants an opportunity to learn Bollywood moves from Indian students.
It is a big move from India to Athens, and for students missing their family, friends and culture, Dhinagar said events like this are important.
“It is a feeling of being home,” he said.
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